Corocotta

Cantabri monument in Santander.

Corocotta is a character from the Antiquity of the Iberian Peninsula (1st century BC), whose existence is only known from a single quote from the Roman historian Dio Casio who, according to the most widespread, that of Adolf Schulten, reads as follows:

It got so much [Augusto] at first against a certain Corocotta, Hispanic thief very powerful, which made a reward of two hundred thousand sestertiums to whom he had apprehended; but later, as it was presented spontaneously, not only did he not harm him, but he gave him that sum.

Dion Casio 56, 43, 3 (A. Schulten translation in Fontes Hispaniae Antiquae, vol. V, Barcelona, 1940, p. 335)

Character controversy

Since Adolf Schulten published his thesis that Corocotta was an important hero of the resistance to Rome, a local warlord during Augustus' Cantabrian Wars, based on his interpretation of the only available citation about the character (Cassius Dio LVI, 43, 3), this was the one that prevailed without discussion in the expert, Cantabrian and Spanish bibliography, which has motivated Corocotta to even have an important social and cultural presence today in Cantabria, as well as on the Internet.

The Cantabrian thesis

The traditional thesis presents Corocotta as a hero of the resistance against Rome, as a unifier and local leader during the Cantabrian wars of Augustus.

According to Adolf Schulten, Corocotta fought in the Cantabrian wars against Rome during the years 29-19 BC. C. In command of the unified tribes of the region, he caused numerous problems for the Roman army. Such was his fame that during the campaign of Emperor Augustus in Hispania, between the years 26-25 BC. C., he put the price of 200,000 sesterces at his head. It was Corocotta himself who appeared in the camp to collect the reward, to the astonishment of the emperor, who, at his brave gesture, let him go free after giving him the reward.

Adolf Schulten argues his thesis on the fact that:

Dion refers to it on the occasion of the death of Augustus in the year 14 after Jesus Christ to demonstrate his clemency. In the case of a war on Iberia, and there had not been another one in Augusto's time that the cantabro-asturica, this Corocotta must have been some head of the Cantabris or Astures. And since Corocotta surrendered to Augustus himself, the event must be set in the 25-26 years, that is, when Augustus was personally in Cantabria.

Adolf Schulten, The Cantabris and Astures and Their War with RomeMadrid, 1962.

Also according to Adolf Schulten, «its name seems rather Celtic, with the root Coroc-, which is found in the names Coruc-us, Coroc-aucus in Lusitania, where there is also Corocuta (CIL, II, 550), which is the same as Corocotta». And it is used in the British in the same formation Carataco, another warlord during the conquest of Britannia. Expanding on this question, the root C(o)ro(c)- can be found in the peninsular epigraphy under various variants:

Coroc-: Chaves (Portugal)

Coroc-uta: Merida (Badajoz)

Coroc-(a)udius and Coroc-audi: Braganza (Portugal)

Croc-i: Braganza and Valpaços (Portugal)

Croquet-a: Ciempozuelos, Valdemoro and Titulcia (Madrid)

Croc-(a): Castro del Parque Olimpia (Madrid)

These theses are followed by those of contemporary authors such as Joaquín González Echegaray (Los Cántabros, 1997) or Eduardo Peralta Labrador (The Cantabrians before Rome, 2000), who add as evidence the fact that:

The name of the Capdillo Cantabro Corocotta is of the same root as that of the god (Corono), so it is to be assumed that the chief canon was especially linked to the divine archetype whose behavior imitated the front of his troops (the second element of his name is the "cotto", "old").

The Books before Romep. 226

Likewise, Coronus is the name of a frequent warrior god in Hispania and Corona is also the name of a soldier of the Legio VII Gemina (267 p. 49). The stem of him, coro-, is likely to carry the Indo-European root *koros, present in Celtic chorio, 'troop' (TLG 57), and Old Irish cuire. (See the term Coroña, Asturian toponymy).

The Cantabrian researcher Jesús Maroñas, regarding the second part of the name Coro-cotta, gives the following explanation: "On the one hand we know the Celtic voice kottos, 'old man', attested in anthroponyms such as Cottus, Cotta, Cottius, Cotthios, and some derivatives such as Cottilus or in the name of some tribe, in the case of the Ate-cotti, 'the oldest', etc.'

Celtic kottos survives in Breton coz and Old Cornish coth, "old".

1.- The meaning should not always be taken literally, since "old" equals "veteran" or "respectable", since in the case of the Cantabrians it is known that the elderly were highly respected within their society.

2.- On the other hand, the Celtic also knows the word kutios, "name of the sixth month of the year", which in the Coligny calendar appears mentioned among those of Ogronn- and Giamonios, mentioned in nominative (gutios, cut-) and in genitive (cutio, qutio, quti). The initial voiceless/voiced alternation K-/G- is frequent in other cases found in the same calendar.

The word kutios survives in Old Irish guth, "voice," and Gaulish gutuater, "he who invokes".

Therefore, Corocotta could mean "the voice", "the guide", "the one who summons the army".

The North African Thesis

The North African thesis is the one maintained by Alicia M. Canto in the years 2004-2005. This author has been maintaining that Corocotta was neither a Cantabrian nor a hero, nor did he play any role in the wars Cantabrians, but a famous and daring thief, probably of North African origin. For this, it is based on different arguments, among which are the following:

• A translation of the Greek text of Dion Casio, more accurate than that made by Schulten (cfabove), which evidences that Dion does not define him in reality, as he is repeating himself, as "Spanish money" or "Hispanic clothing", but as "certain bandit" in Hispaniatina lestén én Ibería), which not only does not confirm or authorize the deduction of a cantabro origin, but rather suggests a non-Hispanic origin.

• Dión Casio does not quote Corocotta in the account of the Cantabrian Wars, which he deals with in his books LIII and LIV, where it would have been the right place from the perspective of historical technique, but two books later, in the LVI, and in the framework of a general praise of Augustus' clemency, which had just died. That is, the quote is not in conformity with the historical context, nor with the date of wars.

• According to her, the chronological and circumstantial attribute of the incident with Augustus on the stage of the Cantabrian wars was made by Schulten without a real basis. But it could be located in any of the estancias of Augustus as emperor in Hispania (almost part of the Cantabrian wars in Tarraco, as is well known), and there is no mention in Dion Casio that he would receive Corocotta in any "campament," or that this "be surrendered," all of which was affirmed by the German author. Even the whole anecdote could happen anywhere else. It was the enormous influence Schulten had in Spain that made everyone accept their interpretation.

• The same attitude of Corocotta, when presented to the enemy to collect, personally, the reward for his capture, is improper, and illogical, if it were a true "hero of indigenous resistance".

• Finally, according to the study of the name of the bandolero, Corocotta (which could come from the well-known animal originating in Africa, the krokóttas Greek, already quoted in the centuryVa. C., and would not be Celtic in the sense advocated by Schulten) would be a nickname or mote very congruent with the above: "the Hiena" or "the Chacal", in appropriate manner with which would be the true profession of the character. This idea is reinforced with a late document, called Testamentum Porcelliwhose protagonist is called M. Grunnius Corocottaand that it was possibly originating from the Tebeste region, near Cartago, in modern Tunisia. From the same area he was able to perform in Hispania the Corocotta quoted by Dión Casio.

The author announced another longer article about it; but in the meantime, in the autumn of 2008 his hypotheses were flatly accepted by various experts from the universities of Cantabria and Zaragoza, in a well-known monograph, giving rise to its public presentation to various headlines, very explicit about it. The same authors, however, point out that in any case all this can be reviewed in a few years, and that the archaeological studies carried out at the sites can provide new knowledge about the figure of Corocotta and the Cantabrians in antiquity.

Corocotta as a tourist attraction

Currently, the figure of Corocotta is one of the cultural and tourist symbols of Cantabria. In any town you will find pendants, handmade statues or even pins of the legendary character. The souvenirs are usually sold together with a small brochure in which historical notions are given, in addition to ensuring the strong and fierce character of the character, as well as his skill with weapons.

Corocotta in culture

The figure of Corocotta has been represented in some works of fiction such as:

• 1980: The Books, film directed by Paul Naschy, in addition to playing the role of Agripa, and with Dan Barry in the role of Corocotta. This film shows the Cantabrian wars and a hypothetical confrontation between Corocotta and the Roman general Agripa.
• 2005: The last welding, a book written by journalist Javier Lorenzo and which tells the life of Corocotta fantasically. He is born from his childhood in Cantabria to his death in the Cantabrian wars, passing through places as far as Britania, North Africa and even the city of Rome as the bodyguards of the very Julius Caesar.
• 2010: The world of CorocottaFernando Rebanal's play. Launched in 2010 by the company Sileno Teatro, it looks at the way of life of Cantabri, the techniques of struggle of Romans and Cantabris, and dramatizes the encounter between Corocotta and Augusto, fleeing from topics and proposing the theory of a pact. The work was performed by José María Pertusa and Fernando Rebanal, who also led the stage.